One of the greatest significance of the book of Job is its answer to the question of suffering. Job tells us that
1. An individual's suffering is not necessarily the result of sin.
2. It is unjust and unrighteous to use someone's misery as a proof to condemn the sufferer of some probable sin.
3. To falsely condemn a fellow-human and use such opportunity as a false reason to glorify God will not please God at all.
4. Our first call towards the suffering is to help and assist them, not theologize or debate about their situation.
5. There is absolutely no reason to doubt the goodness of God, no matter how bad or unfair life appears to us. God's goodness is greater than all misfortune.
6. Suffering is not just a natural affair; the devil and his hosts are actively involved in suffering that results from the violence of wind, fire, murderous and rioting men, and physical diseases.
7. Nothing is out of the control of God.
8. The goodness of God cannot be limited to experiences just within the span of this short life; there is hope beyond the grave.
In 1995, while waiting alone in a van for his colleagues who had gone shopping, Wilson Burhankar, presently Senior Associate Pastor at the Fellowship Church of Itarsi, fell into ecstasy remembering the awesome goodness of God in his life. It was his first year in the Seminary as a teacher and his first year as a full-time Worship Leader at the Itarsi Church. He remembered the ill-battered lifestyle that he had lived prior to knowing Christ, the drunken boozes, the street fights, the nights spent singing at religious gatherings, and the continual stress and pain inflicted on his family because of his sin-laden lifestyle. But, one day the Lord changed his life all over. He came to the Seminary and underwent three years of theological training. The greatest surprise came when Dr. Thomas asked him to consider to stay back and minister here as a worship leader. Inside he felt totally unworthy, and yet was confident of the grace of the Lord. As he sat in the van considering these things, the...
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